Apparatus for transmitting program information, communicating system, method of transmitting program information, method of instructing program recording operation, and method of instructing program purchasing operation

ABSTRACT

Program guide information of the program to be broadcast by the broadcast station  1  is reserved in the EPG server  15  of the center station  11.  The EPG server  15  retrieves for each user, the program satisfying the conditions such as the category of the program registered in the personal information database  16,  and then transmits the guide information of the retrieved programs to the portable telephone  14  of a user who has set the conditions, via the communication network  10.  Thereby, even if the user is outside the home, if there is a program satisfying the conditions specified by the user, the user can obtain the information concerning the program by utilizing the portable telephone  14.  Then, the user can instruct, with reference to the obtained program information, a recording operation from the portable telephone  14  to the VTR  6  in the home  12.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method fortransmitting program information concerning the program to be broadcast,to a radio communication terminal; a communicating system with saidapparatus for transmitting program information; a method of instructinga program recording operation; and a method of instructing a programpurchasing operation.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, a remote controlling system has been developed, thesystem instructing such a recording operation from outside the home to aVTR (video tape recorder) or the like in the home via telephone lines,etc.

By the way, as described above, when an operation of recording thedesired programs is instructed from outside the home by remotelycontrolling the VTR, it is necessary for a user to memorize a channeland broadcast time of the program which he wants to record. However, inrecent times, the number of the programs to be broadcast has beenincreasing as the TV broadcasting become multi-channeled, and thereforeit is difficult for the user to memorize these broadcast times,channels, etc.

In consequence, an idea would come up that the data such as a programlist is received outside the home, so as to instruct the recordingoperation with reference to the received program list. However, in thecase where data of the program list above described is received by aportable terminal and the like, if the number of the programs containedin the program list data is many, it is considered that the data amountthereof will be large, and therefore the memory of the portable terminalwith a limited volume will be subjected to pressure. Also, since thedisplay screen loaded on the portable terminal is small, the operationof finding the desired programs among the many programs displayed on thescreen becomes troublesome.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the abovecircumstances, and the object of it is to provide a program informationtransmitting method and an apparatus capable of providing informationconcerning the necessary program for the user away from the home; acommunicating system allowing the user outside the home to obtain thenecessary information for him and to precisely instruct the recordingoperation or the purchasing operation of the desired programs fromoutside the home; a method of instructing a program recordingoperation;.and a method of instructing a program purchasing operation.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatusfor wirelessly transmitting program information concerning a program tobe broadcast, to a radio communication terminal, comprising: a programinformation database in which program information concerning a programto be broadcast is reserved; retrieving-conditions-storing-means forstoring retrieving conditions which are set corresponding to a radiocommunication terminal; retrieving means for retrieving a programsatisfying the retrieving conditions stored in saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means from said program informationdatabase; and transmitting means for voluntarily transmitting, when aprogram satisfying said retrieving conditions is retrieved by means ofsaid retrieving means, the program information concerning said retrievedprogram to said radio communication terminal corresponding to saidretrieving conditions.

According to an another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a communicating system, comprising a radio communicationterminal for performing a radio communication; aprogram-information-transmitting-apparatus for transmitting informationconcerning a program to be broadcast to said radio communicationterminal; a program recording apparatus for recording a program to bebroadcast; and a communication network connecting the apparatuses withone another, wherein said program-information-transmitting apparatus hasa program information database in which program information concerning aprogram to be broadcast is reserved; retrieving-conditions-storing-meansfor storing retrieving conditions which are set corresponding to saidradio communication terminal; retrieving means for retrieving a programsatisfying the retrieving conditions stored in saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means from said program informationdatabase; and transmitting means for voluntarily transmitting, when aprogram satisfying said retrieving conditions is retrieved by means ofsaid retrieving means, a program information concerning the retrievedprogram to said radio communication terminal corresponding to saidretrieving conditions; said radio communication terminal hasprogram-information-storing-means for storing a program informationtransmitted from said program-information-transmitting-apparatus;displaying means for displaying a program information stored in saidprogram-information-storing-means; andrecording-instruction-transmitting-means for transmittingrecording-instruction-information instructing a program recordingoperation to said program recording apparatus via said communicationnetwork; and said program recording apparatus hasinstruction-information-receiving-means for receiving saidrecording-instruction-information transmitted via said communicationnetwork and recording-operation-executing-means for recording a programto be broadcast in accordance with the recording-instruction-informationreceived by said instruction-information-receiving-means.

According to an another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of wirelessly transmitting a program informationconcerning a program to be broadcast to a radio communication terminal,said method comprising the steps of: a retrieving step of retrieving aprogram satisfying retrieving conditions which are set corresponding tothe radio communication terminal, from a program information database inwhich program information concerning a program to be broadcast isreserved; and a transmitting step of, when a program satisfying saidretrieving conditions is retrieved in said retrieving step, voluntarilytransmitting a program information concerning the retrieved program tosaid radio communication terminal corresponding to said retrievingconditions.

According to an another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a program-recording-instruction-method of instructing arecording operation of a program from a radio communication terminal toa program-recording-apparatus for recording a program to be broadcast,comprising the steps of: a program-retrieving-step of retrieving aprogram which satisfies retrieving conditions preset by a user of saidradio communication terminal, from a database in which programinformation concerning a program to be broadcast is reserved; aprogram-information-transmitting-step, in which, when a programsatisfying said retrieving conditions is retrieved, a programinformation concerning the retrieved program is obtained from saiddatabase, so that the program information is voluntarily transmitted tosaid radio communication terminal; a program-information-displaying-stepof receiving the transmitted program information at said radio terminaland displaying the received program information, so as to prompt theuser to instruct the recording operation of the program; and arecording-instruction-transmitting-step, in which, when the recordingoperation of the program is instructed,recording-instruction-information is transmitted from said radiocommunication terminal to said program-recording-apparatus.

According to an another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a program-recording-instruction-method of instructing apurchasing operation of a program from a radio communication terminal toa program-providing-apparatus, said program-providing-apparatusproviding a registered user with a program instructed from the user topurchase it, comprising the steps of: a program-retrieving-step ofretrieving a program satisfying-the retrieving conditions which are setcorresponding to a user of said radio communication terminal from adatabase in which program information concerning a program to bebroadcast is reserved; a program-information-transmitting-step, inwhich, when a program satisfying said retrieving conditions isretrieved, a program information concerning the retrieved program isobtained from said database, so that the program information isvoluntarily transmitted to said radio communication terminal; aprogram-information-displaying-step of receiving the transmitted programinformation at said radio terminal and displaying the received programinformation, so as to prompt the user to instruct the purchasingoperation of the program; and apurchasing-instruction-transmitting-step, in which, when the purchasingoperation of the program is instructed, thepurchasing-instruction-information is transmitted from said radiocommunication terminal to said program-providing-apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing configurations of a communicating system anda broadcasting system to which a program-information-providing-servicebeing provided by the communicating system, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a centerstation which is an element of said communicating system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portabletelephone which is an element of said communicating system.

FIGS. 4A-4C are diagrams illustrating an example of the contentsdisplayed on the display of said portable telephone upon receiving aprogram guide and displaying it.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a VTRwhich is an element of said communicating system.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure for transmitting programguide data by means of said center station.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a process procedure of said portabletelephone in receiving said program guide data and instructing arecording operation.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a process procedure of said portabletelephone in receiving said program guide data and instructing arecording operation.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a process procedure of said VTR inreceiving a control command from said portable telephone and executing arecording operation.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modified embodiment of said communicatingsystem.

FIGS. 11A-11C are diagrams illustrating the contents displayed on thedisplay of the portable telephone, which is an element of anothermodified embodiment of said communication system.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a further modified embodiment of saidcommunicating system.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of thecenter station, which is an element of the further modified embodiment.

BEST EMBODIMENT FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the following, description will be given on embodiments of thepresent invention referring to the attached drawings.

A. Configuration of the Embodiments

A-1. Overall Configuration of a Broadcasting System

First, FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a communicating systemand a broadcasting system by which the program information broadcast bythe communicating system being provided to the user, in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, in thebroadcasting system, a broadcast radio wave from a broadcast station 1is received by a satellite 2, in which a predetermined signal process ismade to the received radio wave, and the processed radio wave isirradiated to the ground. In each home 12, the radio wave irradiatedfrom the satellite 2 is received by an antenna 3, so as to tune anddemodulate by a tuner 4. In this way, the program broadcast by thebroadcast station 1 is projected onto the television 5 in the home 12.

In addition, as described above, the VTR (program recording device) 6provided in the home can record the program that can be watched by thetelevision 5 in the home. The VTR 6 has a record reservation function,by which a recording operation can be executed based on the time andchannel set by the user. The details of the VTR 6 will be describedlater.

A-2. Overall Configuration of the Communication System

Next, the numeral 10 represents a communication network comprising afixed telephone network, a mobile communication network and the like,and a center station (program-information-transmitting-apparatus) 11 andthe home 12 being connected together via the communication network 10.Further, the communication network 10 has a plurality of base stations10 a (only one of them is shown), and the telecommunications equipmentconnected to the communication network 10 is capable of communicatingbetween it and a portable telephone (radio communication terminal) 14positioned in a predetermined service area. Although it is possible toconnect the communication network 10 with a number of telephones in thehome and a number of the portable telephones, for the simplification ofexplanation,, only one home 12 and one portable telephone 14 are shownin the figure.

A-3. Configuration of the Center Station

The center station 11 serves to distribute program information so thatan electronic program guide (referred to as “EPG” thereinafter) data istransmitted to the portable telephone 14 which is to be connected to thecommunication network 10, the center station 11 comprising an EPG server15 for controlling the transmission of the EPG data and a personalinformation database (retrieving-conditions-storing-means) 16 forstoring information, the information being set for each user whoutilizes the program information distribution service provided by thecenter station 11. The EPG is information concerning the programs to bebroadcast by the broadcast station 1, the EPG including information suchas broadcast date-and-time of each program, channel, cast, category ofthe program, summary of the program, and G code used for recording theprogram, concretely.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the EPGserver 15. As shown in the figure, the EPG server 15 comprises an EPGdatabase 20, a retrieving unit 21, a transmitting unit 22, and atransmission-conditions-storing-unit 23.

The EPG database 20 is a database which reserves the EPG data of theprogram to be broadcast by the broadcast station 1. The EPG database 20is sequentially updated in response to the program information which isprovided from the broadcast station 1 at every predetermined timeinterval. The EPG data to be reserved in the EPG database 20 may be sentto and written into the EPG database 20 after being produced on thebroadcast station 1 side, or may be written into the EPG database 20after being produced for the use of transmission to the portabletelephone in response to the information provided from the broadcaststation 1. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the EPG data tobe transmitted to the portable telephone is produced so that anindication as will hereinafter be described can be provided on thedisplay of the portable telephone 14.

The retrieving unit 21 retrieves EPG data which conforms to the personalinformation which is set in the personal information database 16, fromthe EPG data of a number of programs reserved in the EPG database 20. Inthe personal information database 16, information on favorites(favorites information) for individuals is set corresponding to (theuser of) each portable telephone registered with a program informationdelivering service. As the favorites information, it is possible to setprogram categories such as sports, news, weather forecast, drama,variety, anime, etc; name of the cast; broadcast date-and-time and thelike, and the favorites information above described is registered in thepersonal information database 16 by the user of the portable telephonesat the time of registration of the program information deliveringservice. Although the favorites information registered in the personalinformation database 16 can be modified, the method of doing it is notrestricted but optional, that is, such methods are possible as themethod of inputting the favorites information into the personalinformation database 16 by an operator based on the modified contentsspecified by the user and the method of automatically modifying thefavorites information by transmitting the modified data from theportable telephone 14 to the center station 11. The retrieving unit 21refers to the personal information database 16 in which the favoritesinformation for each user is registered as described above, and, byutilizing these favorites information as the retrieving conditions setfor each user, retrieves the EPG data of the program satisfying theretrieving conditions for each user. As a result of the retrieval, if aprogram is retrieved, the destination information for transmitting datato the portable telephone of the user who has set the retrievingconditions (for example, the electronic mail address of the portabletelephone, the address information for transmitting and receiving theEPG data or the like is possible) and the EPG data of the retrievedprogram will be output to the transmitting unit 22. The retrieving unit21 is adapted to perform the retrieving process of the registeredfavorites information of the user when the contents of the abovedescribed EPG database 20 are updated.

The transmitting unit 22 transmits the EPG data to the portabletelephone 14 of the user who has registered the retrieving conditions,via the communication network 10, the EPG data being retrieved by theretrieving unit 21 for each user. The transmitting unit 22 starts theprocess of transmitting the EPG data to the portable telephone 14, whentransmission conditions stored in the transmission condition storingunit 23 are satisfied. In the transmission-conditions-storing-unit 23,the transmission conditions are set for each portable telephone of theuser registered with this service. As such conditions, the user isallowed to register a condition that when three or more programs areretrieved, the transmitting process should be started; a condition that,for a particular category, the transmitting process should be started atthe time when one program is retrieved, and that, for other categories,the transmitting process should be performed at the time when fiveprograms are retrieved; or a condition that the transmitting processshould be performed one hour before the broadcast time of the retrievedprogram. Thus, until the transmission conditions are satisfied, thetransmitting unit 22 reserves the EPG data to be destined to the user,the data having been sent from the retrieving unit 21. When thetransmission conditions are satisfied, the reserved EPG data will betransmitted. The transmission conditions stored in thetransmission-conditions-storing-unit 23 can also be changed properly,like the above described favorites information.

Under the above configuration, for example, when one user has registeredthe favorites information, such as “professional baseball*KYOJIN-SEN”,the retrieving unit 21 extracts the EPG data of the program for theprofessional baseball game relay of the KYOJIN-SEN. If the user has seta transmission condition that the transmitting process should beperformed immediately after the retrieval, the EPG data of the programfor the professional baseball game relay of the KYOJIN-SEN will betransmitted toward the portable telephone 14 carried by the user. Here,the mark “*” in the above favorites information indicates a logical ANDoperation.

A-4. Structure of the Portable Telephone

Referring now to FIG. 3, the portable telephone 14 which receives theEPG data transmitted from the center station 11 will be explained. Asshown in the figure, the portable telephone 14 comprises a radiocommunication unit 30, a controller 31, an input key including aplurality of keys, a speaker 33, a microphone 34, a display (displayingmeans) 35, and a memory (program-information-storing-means) 36, each ofthese elements having functions similar to that of a general portabletelephone, thereby allowing to communicate between it and the othertelephones.

The radio communication unit 30 wirelessly communicates with the basestation 10 a, and it performs voice communication like the generalportable telephones do. Further, the radio communication unit 30receives the EPG data transmitted from said center station 11 (refer toFIG. 1 and FIG. 2), and sends it to the controller 31.

The controller 31 controls each part of the portable telephone 14, andcontrols the voice communication like the general portable telephonesdo. Also, the controller 31 stores the EPG data received from the centerstation 11 in the memory 36, and when the user instructs a displayingoperation, the controller displays the program guide information.corresponding to the received EPG data on the display 35. Further, thecontroller 31 produces a control command (program recording instructioninformation) for controlling the recording operation of the VTR 6 in thehome 12 (refer to FIG. 1) in accordance with the instructions from theuser input from the input keys 32, etc, and sends the control command tothe radio communication unit 30. The radio communication unit 30transmits the control command to the VTR 6 via the communication network10. Thus, in the present embodiment, the radio communication unit 30 andthe controller 31 constitutes recording-instruction-transmitting-means.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an example of the contents displayed on thedisplay 35 under the control of the controller 31 in the case ofdisplaying the program guide information will be explained. Asillustrated in FIG. 4(a), when the EPG data transmitted from the centerstation 11 is received, the display 35 displays the reception of the EPGdata by a message in accordance with the control of the controller 31,and also functions as a GUI (graphical user interface) for enabling theuser to instruct whether the program information should be displayed ornot. If the user operates the input key 32 to select the item “YES”, thedisplay 35 displays, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the information comprisingthe broadcast date-and-time of the program, channel, and program names(referred to as “program basic information” hereinafter). In theportable telephone 14, the number of the programs contained in thereceived EPG data, that is, the number of the retrieved programs isadapted to be displayed at the lower part of the display 35, and evenwhen too many programs have been retrieved to be displayed on onescreen, all the program guide information of such retrieved programssent to the portable telephone are allowed to be displayed by operatingthe input key 32 so as to display such program guide information bysequentially scrolling the information.

If the user operates the input key 32 to put the cursor C on the programbasic information of the desired program so that the desired program isselected, the detailed information (referred to as “program detailedinformation” hereinafter) of the selected program will be displayed asshown in FIG. 4(c). In the program detailed information, the summary ofthe program, the names of the cast, etc, are displayed to an extent thatis described in the television columns of the newspapers. Further, atthis time, a mark is displayed at the lower part of the screen of thedisplay 35, the mark being used for directing whether the recordingoperation of the program should be instructed or the screen should bereturned to the previous screen, so that the mark functions as the GUI.When the user instructs the recording operation, the controller 31produces the control command including the broadcast date-and-time ofthe program and the channel data, and send the command to the radiocommunication unit 30. The radio communication unit 30 establishes acommunication connection between it and the VTR 6 described later viathe communication network 10 based on a destination information (forexample, the telephone number, etc) for transmitting data to thepre-selected home 12, and transmits the control command to the VTR 6 inthe home 12 (refer to FIG. 1) via the communication network 10. On theother hand, when the user instructs the “returning operation” byutilizing the GUI such as shown in FIG. 4(c), the screen will bereturned to the one displaying the program basic information, as shownin FIG. 4 (b) . Also, even if either of the screens is displayed, when apredetermined key, for example, the on-hook key among the input keys 32,is pushed down, the screen will be returned to the initial screen (forexample, a time displaying screen). The displaying mode of the EPG isnot limited to the one in which the program basic information and theprogram detailed information are displayed hierarchically as shown inFIG. 4(a) to (c), but it is optional, and also the type of theinformation to be displayed is not limited to the above, but it isoptional.

A-5. Structure of the VTR

Next, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration ofthe VTR 6, which is set in the home 12. As shown in the figure, the VTR6 comprises a communication unit(instruction-information-receiving-means) 50, a control unit 51, arecord-reservation-data-storing-unit 52, a record/playback unit(recording-operation-executing-means) 53.

The communication unit 50 communicates with other communicationequipment via the communication network 10 (refer to FIG. 1), and theunit receives the control command transmitted from the above describedportable telephone 14 to send it to the control unit 51. The controlunit 51 instructs a video playback operation and the recording operationto the record/playback unit 53 in accordance with the user'sinstructions input from the input key, the remote controller, etc, ofthe VTR 6 which are not shown in figures. Further, the broadcastdate-and-time and channel, which are included in the control commandreceived by the communication unit 50, are written into therecord-reservation-data-storing-unit 52 as record reservation data.Then, the control unit 51 instructs to execute the recording operationto the record/playback unit 53, based on the record-reservation datastored in the record-reservation-data-storing-unit 52. Therecord/playback unit 53 executes the recording operation in accordancewith the broadcast date-and-time and channel instructed from the controlunit 51. Although the communication unit 50 may be the one dedicated tothe receiving operation, it is also possible to add thereto atransmission function so that the data for confirming the receipt of thecontrol command from the portable telephone 14 is returned to theportable telephone 14. Further, it is possible to send the informationconcerning the remaining amount of the video tape which is set in theVTR 6, to the portable telephone 14.

B. Operation of the Embodiment

Next, the operation of the communicating system having the aboveconfiguration will be explained below. In the following, an operation ofthe center station 11 for retrieving the EPG data to be transmitted tothe portable telephone 14, an operation of the portable telephone 14 forreceiving the EPG data to transmit the instruction of the recordingoperation to the VTR 6, and an operation of the VTR 6 for receiving theinstruction of the recording operation from the portable telephone 14 toexecute the recording operation, will be separately explained.

B-1. Operation of Transmitting EPG Data by the Center Station

First, the transmitting operation of the EPG data by means of the centerstation 11 will be explained with reference to FIG. 6. As illustrated inthe figure, at the beginning, whether the EPG database 20 in the EPGserver 15 has been updated or not will be confirmed (step Sa1) . If theEPG database 20 has been updated, then by utilizing the favoritesinformation as retrieving conditions, programs satisfying the retrievingconditions will be retrieved by the retrieving unit 21 for each of theusers, the favorites information being registered in the personalinformation database 16 for each user's portable telephone 14 (stepSa2).

After this, it will be determined for each of the users whether theprograms satisfying the retrieving conditions are found or not (stepSa3), and if the EPG data of the satisfied program is retrieved, then itwill be determined whether the user's transmission conditions registeredin the transmission-conditions-storing-unit 23 are satisfied (step Sa4).If the transmission conditions are satisfied, then the retrieved EPGdata will be transmitted toward the corresponding portable telephone 14(step Sa7).

On the other hand, if the transmission conditions are not satisfied, theretrieved EPG data will be reserved (step Sa5) After this, if the EPGdata in the EPG database 20 is updated, the process will be returned tothe step Sa2 to repeat the operations in the step Sa3 and step Sa4. Ifthe transmission conditions are not satisfied again, the EPG data of theretrieved programs will be further reserved (step Sa5). These operationsare repeated, and if the transmission conditions are satisfied (thedetermination in the step Sa4 becomes the item “YES”), then the reservedEPG data will be transmitted to the corresponding portable telephone 14(step Sa7). If the transmission condition is that the EPG data should betransmitted one hour before the broadcast date-and-time of the retrievedprogram, only the EPG data of the program satisfying this transmissioncondition, that is, the program having the broadcast date-and-time onehour before the actual broadcast date-and-time will be transmitted.

B-2. Operatioin of the Portable Telephone

Next, the operation of the portable telephone 14 in the case where itreceives the EPG data transmitted from the center station 11 to instructthe recording operation to the VTR 6 in the home 12 as described abovewill be explained with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. As illustrated inFIG. 7 and FIG. 8, at the beginning, when the power is supplied to theportable telephone 14, an initial screen such as a time display will bedisplayed on the display 35 (step Sb1). Then, it will be determinedwhether or not a displaying operation of the EPG data is instructed fromthe user (step Sb2), and if there is the instruction of the displayingoperation, it will be determined whether or not the EPG data is storedin the memory 36 (step Sb16). If the EPG data is not stored, the processwill be returned to the initial condition (step Sb1), and if the EPGdata is stored, the program basic information (refer to FIG. 4(b)) willbe displayed based on the stored EPG data (step Sb7).

On the other hand, in the step Sb2, if there is no instruction of thedisplaying operation from the user, the confirmation whether the EPGdata has been received or not will be made (step Sb3). In the case wherethe EPG data from the center station 11 is received, the EPG data willbe stored in the memory 36 (step Sb4), and the display 35 displays thereceipt message (refer to FIG. 4(a)) (step Sb5).

In a situation shown in FIG. 4(a), it is determined whether or not thereis an instruction of the EPG displaying operation from the user, thatis, which of the items, “YES” or “NO”, is selected on the displayedscreen (step Sb6), and if the item “YES” is selected, then the programbasic information (refer to FIG. 4(b)) will be displayed on the display35 (step Sb7). On the other hand, if the item “NO” is selected, theprocess will be returned to the initial state (step Sb1).

When the program basic information is displayed on the display 35 (stepSb7), it is determined whether the termination of the EPG displayingoperation is instructed from the user or not (step Sb8), and if thetermination of the displaying operation is instructed, the process willbe returned to the initial state such as the time display (step Sb1). Onthe other hand, if there is no instruction of the termination of the EPGdisplaying operation, it is determined whether or not there is aninstruction of the displaying operation of the program detailedinformation from the user (step Sb9). If there is an instruction of thedisplaying operation of the program detailed information, that is, aprogram is selected on the screen shown in FIG. 4(b), the programdetailed information of the program (refer to FIG. 4(c)) will bedisplayed on the display 35 (step Sb10).

In a situation where the program detailed information is displayed, itis determined whether or not there is an instruction of the recordingoperation from the user (step Sb11), and if there is an instruction ofthe recording operation, the control command including the broadcastdate-and-time and channel of the program will be produced, and then theproduced control command will be transmitted to the VTR 6 in the home 12(step Sb13).

After this, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction ofthe displaying operation of the basic program information, that is,whether or not the “return operation” is selected on the screen shown inFIG. 4(c) (step Sb14). If the “return operation” is selected, theprogram basic information shown in FIG. 4(b) is displayed (step Sb7),and the processes of and after the step 7 will be repeated. On the otherhand, unless the “return operation” is selected, it is determinedwhether or not there is an instruction of the termination of the EPGdisplaying operation (step Sb15). If there is the instruction of thetermination, the process will be returned to the initial state (stepSb1), and if not, the program detailed information will remain to bedisplayed (step Sb10).

B-3. Operation of the VTR

Next, the operation of the VTR 6 for receiving the control commandtransmitted from the portable telephone 14, so as to execute therecording operation, as above described will be explained with referenceto FIG. 9. As illustrated in the figure, at the beginning, it will bedetermined whether or not the control command transmitted from theportable telephone 14 is received (step Sc1) . When the control commandis received, the record-reservation data will be produced by the controlunit 51 from the information such as the broadcast date-and-time,channel and the like included in the received control command, and thenthe record-reservation data will be stored in therecord-reservation-data-storing-unit 52 (step Sc2).

When it reaches the date-and-time indicated by the record-reservationdata stored in the record-reservation-data-storing-unit 52 (step Sc3),the recording process of the program to be broadcast on the channelinstructed by the record-reservation data will be started (step Sc4) .After this, when it reaches the recording-termination time indicated bythe record-reservation data, the recording process will be terminated.

Thus, in the transmitting system of the present embodiment, even whenthe user is outside the home, he can obtain, by utilizing his ownportable telephone 14, the EPG data of the program conforming to thefavorites information which is set by each user. Referring to the EPGdata, the record-reservation of a desired program can be made to the VTR6 in the home 12. Thus, the user can properly instruct the recordingoperation of the desired program from outside the home, withoutmemorizing the program list with an increased amount of information asthe broadcasting is multi-channeled.

Further, in the transmitting system in accordance with the presentembodiment, when the EPG data from the center station 11 to the portabletelephone 14 is transmitted, only the EPG data conforming to thefavorite of its user will be transmitted. That is, since the EPG data ofthe unnecessary program for the user is not transmitted, the portabletelephone with its small quantity of memory is prevented from beingsubjected to pressure. Further, since the EPG data of the programconforming to the user's favorites information has been transmitted inadvance, the number of the programs to be transmitted will be limited tosome extent, and therefore even when utilizing the terminal having asmall display screen as the portable telephone 14, the desired programcan be found easily and in a short time with reference to the EPG.Further, by hierarchically displaying the program basic information andthe program detailed information as above described, thevisual-recognition-ability and the operability can be improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the EPG data transmitting process ofthe so-called push type is performed, in which type, when the programconforming to the user's favorites is retrieved among the programs to bebroadcast, the EPG data will be transmitted to the portable telephone14. To the contrary, in the case where the EPG data is obtained from thecenter station 11 by accessing thereto from the portable telephone 14,if the program conforming to the favorites information is not retrieved,no information will be obtained even if such an access is made, thusresulting in a useless access. However, in the present embodiment, sincethe EPG data transmitting process of the push type is performed, theuseless access from the portable telephone 14 to the center station 11as described above can be prevented.

Further, since each user can set transmitting conditions of the EPGdata, if the conditions are set such that the EPG data should betransmitted one hour before the broadcast time, the EPG data will betransmitted to the portable telephone 14 owned by the user one hourbefore the broadcasting of the program. The user can find the EPG datato go home and watch the program, or to instruct the record-reservationoperation to the VTR 6 from the portable telephone 14 when he cannot gohome. Further, in the case where a user registers a plurality offavorites information in the personal information database 16, he willbe allowed to set conditions, for example, a condition that when aprogram is retrieved based on a predetermined favorites information, theEPG data should be transmitted two times including at that point and atthe time one hour before the broadcast, and when a programs is retrievedbased on another favorites information, the EPG data should betransmitted only one time at that point. Further, not related to the setconditions of each user, it is possible to transmit the EPG data of theprogram (including the EPG data once transmitted) at the time before thebroadcasting time which is set by the user (for example, one hour beforethe broadcasting time). Thereby, even if the user forgets the broadcastdate-and-time of the program, he can be informed of the fact that it isthe time before the broadcast time which is set for the program, so asto prompt the user to record and watch the program.

C. Modified Embodiments

The invention is not restricted to the above described embodiments, butthe following various modifications will be possible:

(1) Although, in the above described embodiment, the case where therecording operation is instructed from the portable telephone 14 to theVTR 6 in the home 12 has been explained, the embodiment is notrestricted thereto, but in the case of the broadcasting system serving aPPV (Pay Per View) system, it is possible to allow to instruct thepurchasing operation of the desired program from the portable telephone14. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, the instruction of the programpurchasing operation is transmitted from the portable telephone 14 tothe broadcast station 1 via the communication network 10 with referenceto the EPG data transmitted from the center station 11 as abovedescribed embodiment. In the broadcasting system providing the PPVservice, the broadcast station 1 transmits the scrambled data of theprogram therefrom, but the broadcast station 1 which received the abovedescribed instruction of the program purchasing operation, transmits awatching allowance information on a specified program together with thescrambled data of the program. A pay air receiving unit 100 which is setin the home 12, receives the scrambled data of the program and thewatching allowance information to de-scramble the data of the programwhich is allowed for the user to watch, so that the program instructedfrom the user to purchase can be watched.

Also, it is possible to transmit the instruction of the purchasingoperation from the portable telephone 14 to the pay air receiving unit100 in the home 12 via the communication network 10, and the pay airreceiving unit 100 that has received this de-scrambles the scrambleddata of the program transmitted from the broadcast station 1.

(2) Further, although in the above described embodiment, the EPG data issuch that it is transmitted from the center station 11 to the portabletelephone 14 capable of making a two-way communication, it is notrestricted thereto, but the data can be transmitted to a simple-typeportable telephone system (PHS: Personal Handy-phone System); aportable-type mobile communication terminal capable of wirelesslytransmitting and receiving data over a wide area or local area; othermobile communication terminals; and a portable terminal with a radiocommunication function. Further, it is possible to transmit the EPG datato a pager having only a receiving function. In this case, if this pageris of the type having an interface with the public telephones, etc,capable of conducting a data transmission, it is possible to connect thepublic telephones and the pager, so that the instruction of therecording operation is transferred to the public telephones like theabove described portable telephone 14 and subsequently transmitted tothe home 12.

(3) Further, although in the above described embodiment, the programbasic information comprising the broadcast date-and-time of the programand channel information and, on the other hand, the program detailedinformation comprising the summary of the program, cast and the like aretransmitted as the EPG data, it is possible to voluntarily transmit onlythe program basic information from the center station 11 to the portabletelephone 14. In this case, in the portable telephone 14 which hasreceived the EPG data comprising only the program basic information, adisplay such as shown in FIG. 11(a) to (c) will be made. First, as shownin FIG. 11(a), the receipt message like the above described embodimentis displayed. Next, when the user instructs the EPG displayingoperation, as shown in FIG. 11(b), the program basic informationcomprising the broadcast date-and-time, channel, and name of the programis displayed, and also the message such as “Obtain the detailedinformation ?” is displayed. If the user instructs to execute adetailed-information-obtaining-operation, the instruction of thedetailed-information-obtaining-operation will be transmitted from theportable telephone 14 to the center station 11. The center station 11which receives the instruction of thedetailed-information-obtaining-operation transmits the detailedinformation of the program to the portable telephone 14. Thereby, asshown in FIG. 11(c), the detailed information showing the summary of theprogram, cast, etc, is displayed on the display 35. In a situation wherethe program basic information shown in FIG. 11(b) is displayed, when theuser selects the item “instruction of the recording operation”, the VTR6 in the home 12 is instructed to execute a recording operation of theprogram without accessing to the center station 11 for obtaining thedetailed information.

In this way, since it will prevent the portable telephone 14 from beingtransmitted the detailed information of unnecessary programs, the amountof the data to be transmitted to the portable telephone 14 can becontrolled, and therefore the memory of the portable telephone 14 whichreceives the transmitted data can effectively be used. For example, ifhigh-lighted image data and freeze-frame picture data for ten seconds,etc, of the program are included as the program detailed information, auser can refer to the high-lighted image, etc, by means of the portabletelephone 14, thereby making it very useful for the user. However, thepicture data of the high-lighted image, etc, are transmitted for anumber of the programs, the amount of the data to be transmitted becomeslarge, and the memory of the portable telephone 14 receiving the datawill be subjected to be pressure. As described in the presentmodification, if only the program basic information having a smallamount of data is transmitted first, and the detailed information suchas the high-lighted image is transmitted only when an instruction isreceived from the portable telephone 14 of the user who has looked thebasic information, then the user can refer to the high-lighted image,etc, of the necessary program for him without greatly increasing theamount of data to be transmitted.

(4) Further, although in the above described embodiment, the VTR 6 has afunction to receive the control command transmitted from the portabletelephone 14, it is not restricted thereto, but an embodiment ispossible such as to provide a receiving controller for receiving thecontrol command from the portable telephone 14 and producing therecord-reservation data to be written into the VTR, the receivingcontroller and the VTR being connected together by utilizing a cable orthe like. Further, as a unit for recording the program, in addition tothe above described VTR 6, other kinds of the recording units includinga recorder for writing the program data into the storage media such as ahardware unit and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) can be used.

(5) Further, as shown in FIG. 12, in addition to the above describedembodiment, it is possible to provide a unit 110 for transmittingwatching/recording information (history-information-obtaining-means), sothat a watching/recording history of the user is transmitted to thecenter station 11, and a personal information setting unit(retrieving-conditions-writing-means) 120 in the center station 11 whichhas received the watching/recording history can automatically set theinformation in the personal information database 16.

As shown in FIG. 12, the unit 110 for transmitting watching/recordinginformation comprises a storage device 111 for storing historyinformation including the broadcast date-and-time and the channelinformation of the program tuned by the tuner 4 for a watching andrecording purpose, and a transmitting device 112 for periodicallytransmitting the history information stored in the storage device to thepersonal information setting unit 120 of the center station 11 via thecommunication network 10.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of thepersonal information setting unit 120 for automatically registering thefavorites information in the personal information database 16 based onthe watching/recording history information transmitted from thewatching/recording information transmitting unit 110. As shown in thefigure, the personal information setting unit 120 comprises a receivingdevice 121, a device 122 for registering the favorites information, anda program list database 123.

The receiving device 121 receives the watching/recording historyinformation transmitted from the transmitting device 112 of the unit 110for transmitting watching/recording information via the communicationnetwork 10. The device 122 for registering the favorites informationspecifies the program watched and/or recorded by the user, based on thebroadcast date-and-time and the channel included in thewatching/recording history information received by the receiving device121 and the past program list data reserved in the program list database123. Further, the program list database 123 stores the informationconcerning the category and the name of the cast of each program as wellas the program list. By referring to the information, the device 122 forregistering the favorites information specifies the category and thename of the cast of the program watched and/or recorded by the user. Thedevice 122 for registering the favorites information registers thecategory and the cast of the specified program in the personalinformation database 16 as the favorites information for the user.

In this way, using the favorites information registered in the personalinformation database 16 as the retrieving conditions, the program isretrieved by the EPG server 15 (refer to FIG. 2) as above describedembodiment, and transmitted to the portable telephone 14 carried by theuser. Thus, it is allowed for the user to obtain the EPG data conformingto his favorite by the portable telephone 14, without the operation ofregistering the favorites information in the personal informationdatabase 16.

(6) Further, although in the above described embodiment, the controlcommand is transmitted from the portable telephone 14 to the VTR 6 inthe home 12 via the communication network 10, it is not restrictedthereto, but it is possible to transmit the data for specifying theprogram to be recorded from the portable telephone 14 to the centerstation 11, so that the control command is transmitted from the centerstation 11 which has received the data to the VTR 6 in the home 12 viathe communication network 10.

(7) Further, although, in the above described embodiment, the case hasbeen explained where the invention is applied to a satellitebroadcasting system for transmitting the broadcast radio wave from thebroadcast station 1 to the home 12 via the satellite 2, it is notrestricted thereto, but the invention may be applied to otherbroadcasting systems such as a ground wave broadcasting system and acable wave broadcasting system as well as the radio broadcasting.

1. An apparatus for wirelessly transmitting program informationconcerning a program to be broadcast, to a plurality of radiocommunication terminals, comprising: a program information database inwhich program information concerning a program to be broadcast isreserved; retrieving-conditions-storing-means for storing retrievingconditions which are set corresponding to the plurality of radiocommunication terminals; retrieving means for retrieving a programsatisfying the retrieving conditions stored in saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means from said program informationdatabase; and transmitting means for voluntarily transmitting, when aprogram satisfying said retrieving conditions is retrieved by means ofsaid retrieving means, the program information concerning said retrievedprogram to said radio communication terminals corresponding to saidretrieving conditions.
 2. An apparatus for transmitting programinformation as defined in claim 1, further comprisingtransmission-conditions-storing-means for storing transmissionconditions corresponding to said radio communication terminal, saidtransmission conditions being used for transmitting the programinformation retrieved by said retrieving means to said radiocommunication terminal, wherein said transmitting means transmits theprogram information to said radio communication terminal correspondingto said transmission conditions, when the transmission conditions storedin said transmission-conditions-storing-means are satisfied.
 3. Anapparatus for transmitting program information as defined in claim 1,wherein said transmitting means transmits the program informationretrieved by said retrieving means to said radio communication terminal,when it reaches a time that is a predetermined time before the start ofbroadcasting of the program.
 4. An apparatus for transmitting programinformation as defined in any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein theprogram information reserved in said program information databaseincludes a basic information including the broadcast date-and-time ofthe program, channel, and program name information, and a detailedinformation concerning the contents of the program, the amount of saiddetailed information being larger than that of said basic information;and wherein said transmitting means voluntarily transmits said basicinformation of the program retrieved by said retrieving means to saidradio communication terminal, and subsequently transmits said detailedinformation of the program retrieved by said retrieving means when aninstruction is provided from said radio communication terminal.
 5. Anapparatus for transmitting program information as defined in claim 4,said apparatus further comprising: history-information-obtaining-meansfor obtaining history information concerning a watching operation, arecording operation or both of these operations of the user, for theprogram broadcast in the past; and retrieving-conditions-writing-meansfor setting, based on the history information obtained by saidhistory-information-obtaining-means, the retrieving conditionscorresponding to said radio communication terminal of said user, so asto write the retrieving conditions into saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means.
 6. An apparatus for transmittingprogram information as defined in any one of claims 1 to 3, saidapparatus further comprising: history-information-obtaining-means forobtaining history information concerning a watching operation, arecording operation or both of these operations of the user, for theprogram broadcast in the past; and retrieving-conditions-writing-meansfor setting, based on the history information obtained by saidhistory-information-obtaining-means, the retrieving conditionscorresponding to said radio communication terminal of said user, so asto write the retrieving conditions into saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means.
 7. An apparatus for transmittingprogram information as defined in claim 1, wherein the retrievingconditions comprises personal information of users of the communicationterminals.
 8. An apparatus for transmitting program information asdefined in claim 7, wherein the personal information is registered bythe users of the communication terminals.
 9. An apparatus fortransmitting program information as defined in claim 8, wherein thepersonal information is capable of being modified.
 10. An apparatus fortransmitting program information as defined in claim 1, wherein at leasta part of the retrieving conditions are different for at least two ofthe communication terminals.
 11. A communicating system comprising aplurality of radio communication terminals for performing radiocommunication; a program-information-transmitting-apparatus fortransmitting information concerning a program to be broadcast to saidradio communication terminals; a program recording apparatus forrecording a program to be broadcast; and a communication networkconnecting the apparatuses with one another, wherein saidprogram-information-transmitting-apparatus has a program informationdatabase in which program information concerning a program to bebroadcast is reserved; retrieving-conditions-storing-means for storingretrieving conditions which are set corresponding to said plurality ofradio communication terminals; retrieving means for retrieving a programsatisfying the retrieving conditions stored in saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means from said program informationdatabase; and transmitting means for voluntarily transmitting, when aprogram satisfying the retrieving conditions is retrieved by means ofsaid retrieving means, a program information concerning the retrievedprogram to said radio communication terminals corresponding to saidretrieving conditions; said radio communication terminals haveprogram-information-storing-means for storing a program informationtransmitted from said program-information-transmitting-apparatus;displaying means for displaying a program information stored in saidprogram-information-storing-means; andrecording-instruction-transmitting-means for transmittingrecording-instruction-information instructing a program recordingoperation to said program recording apparatus via said communicationnetwork; and said program recording apparatus hasinstruction-information- receiving-means for receiving saidrecording-instruction-information transmitted via said communicationnetwork and recording-operation-executing-means for recording a programto be broadcast in accordance with the recording-instruction-informationreceived by said instruction-information-receiving means.
 12. Acommunicating system comprising a plurality of radio communicationterminals for performing radio communication; aprogram-information-transmitting-apparatus for transmitting informationconcerning a program to be broadcast to said radio communicationterminals; a program-providing-apparatus for providing a program to theuser when a registered user purchases the program; and a communicationnetwork connecting the apparatuses with one another, wherein saidprogram-information-transmitting-apparatus has a program informationdatabase in which program information concerning a program to bebroadcast is reserved; retrieving-conditions-storing-means for storingretrieving conditions which are set corresponding to said plurality ofradio communication terminals- retrieving means for retrieving a programsatisfying the retrieving conditions stored in saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means from said program informationdatabase; and transmitting means for voluntarily transmitting, when aprogram satisfying said retrieving conditions is retrieved by means ofsaid retrieving means, the program information concerning the retrievedprogram to said radio communication terminals corresponding to saidretrieving conditions; said radio communication terminals haveprogram-information-storing means for storing a program informationtransmitted from said program-information-transmitting-apparatus;displaying means for displaying a program information stored in saidprogram information storing means; andpurchasing-instruction-transmitting-means for transmittingpurchasing-instruction-information instructing a program purchasingoperation to said program-providing-apparatus via said communicationnetwork; and said program-providing-apparatus haspurchasing-information-receiving-means for receiving apurchasing-instruction-information transmitted via said communicationnetwork and program-providing-means for providing a program to the userin accordance with the purchasing-instruction-information received bysaid purchasing-information-receiving means.
 13. A communicating systemas defined in claim 11 or 12, wherein saidprogram-information-transmitting-apparatus further comprisestransmission-conditions-storing means for storing transmissionconditions corresponding to said radio terminal, said transmissionconditions being used for transmitting the program information retrievedby said retrieving means to said radio communication terminal; whereinsaid transmitting means transmits the program information to said radiocommunication terminal corresponding to said transmission conditions,when the transmission conditions stored in saidtransmission-conditions-storing-means are satisfied.
 14. A communicatingsystem as defined in claim 13, wherein the program information reservedin said program information database includes a basic informationincluding the broadcast date-and-time of the program, channel, andprogram name information and a detailed information concerning thecontents of the program, the amount of said detailed information beinglarger than that of said basic information; said transmitting meansvoluntarily transmits said basic information of the program retrieved bysaid retrieving means to said radio communication terminal, andsubsequently transmits said detailed information of the programretrieved by said retrieving means when an instruction is provided fromsaid radio communication terminal.
 15. A communicating system as definedin claim 13, said system further comprisinghistory-information-obtaining-means connectable to said communicationnetwork, for obtaining history information concerning a watchingoperation, a recording operation or both of these operations, of theuser, for the program broadcast in the past, so as to transmit thehistory information to said program-information-transmitting-apparatus;wherein said program-information-transmitting-apparatus hasretrieving-conditions-writing-means for setting, based on the historyinformation transmitted from said history-information-obtaining-means,the retrieving conditions corresponding to said radio communicationterminal of said user, so as to write the retrieving conditions intosaid retrieving-conditions-storing-means.
 16. A communicating system asdefined in claim 11 or 12, wherein said transmitting means transmits theprogram information retrieved by said retrieving means to said radiocommunication terminal, when it reaches a time that is a predeterminedtime before the start of broadcasting of the program.
 17. Acommunicating system as defined in claim 16, wherein the programinformation reserved in said program information database includes abasic information including the broadcast date-and-time of the program,channel, and program name information and a detailed informationconcerning the contents of the program, the amount of said detailedinformation being larger than that of said basic information; saidtransmitting means voluntarily transmits said basic information of theprogram retrieved by said retrieving means to said radio communicationterminal, and subsequently transmits said detailed information of theprogram retrieved by said retrieving means when an instruction isprovided from said radio communication terminal.
 18. A communicatingsystem as defined in claim 16, said system further comprisinghistory-information-obtaining-means connectable to said communicationnetwork, for obtaining history information concerning a watchingoperation, a recording operation or both of these operations, of theuser, for the program broadcast in the past, so as to transmit thehistory information to said program-information-transmitting-apparatus;wherein said program-information-transmitting-apparatus hasretrieving-conditions-writing-means for setting, based on the historyinformation transmitted from said history-information-obtaining-means,the retrieving conditions corresponding to said radio communicationterminal of said user, so as to write the retrieving conditions intosaid retrieving-conditions-storing-means.
 19. A communicating system asdefined in claim 11 or 12, wherein the program information reserved insaid program information database includes a basic information includingthe broadcast date-and-tine of the program, channel, and program nameinformation and a detailed information concerning the contents of theprogram, the amount of said detailed information being larger than thatof said basic information; said transmitting means voluntarily transmitssaid basic information of the program retrieved by said retrieving meansto said radio communication terminal, and subsequently transmits saiddetailed information of the program retrieved by said retrieving meanswhen an instruction is provided from said radio communication terminal.20. A communicating system as defined in claim 19, said system furthercomprising history-information-obtaining-means connectable to saidcommunication network, for obtaining history information concerning awatching operation, a recording operation or both of these operations,of the user, for the program broadcast in the past, so as to transmitthe history information to saidprogram-information-transmitting-apparatus; wherein saidprogram-information-transmitting-apparatus has retrievingconditions-writing-means for setting, based on the history informationtransmitted from said history-information-obtaining-means, theretrieving conditions corresponding to said radio communication terminalof said user, so as to write the retrieving conditions into saidretrieving-conditions-storing-means.
 21. A communicating system asdefined in claim 11 or 12, said system further comprisinghistory-information-obtaining-means connectable to said communicationnetwork, for obtaining history information concerning a watchingoperation, a recording operation or both of these operations, of theuser, for the program broadcast in the past, so as to transmit thehistory information to said program-information-transmitting apparatus;wherein said program-information-transmitting-apparatus hasretrieving-conditions-writing-means for setting, based on the historyinformation transmitted from said history-information-obtaining-means,the retrieving conditions corresponding to said radio communicationterminal of said user, so as to write the retrieving conditions intosaid retrieving-conditions-storing-means.
 22. A method of wirelesslytransmitting a program information concerning a program to be broadcastto a plurality of radio communication terminals, said method comprisingthe steps of: a retrieving step of retrieving a program satisfyingretrieving conditions which are set corresponding to the radiocommunication terminals, from a program information database in whichprogram information concerning a program to be broadcast is reserved;and a transmitting step of, when a program satisfying said retrievingconditions is retrieved in said retrieving step, voluntarilytransmitting a program information concerning the retrieved program tosaid radio communication terminal corresponding to said retrievingconditions.
 23. A method of transmitting program information as definedin claim 22, wherein, in said transmitting step, when the transmissionconditions which are set corresponding to said radio terminal aresatisfied, the program information retrieved in said retrieving step istransmitted to said radio communication terminal corresponding to saidtransmission conditions.
 24. A method of transmitting programinformation as defined in claim 22, wherein, in said transmitting step,the program information retrieved in said retrieving step is transmittedto said radio communication terminal, when it reaches a time that is apredetermined time before the start of broadcasting of the program. 25.A method of transmitting program information as defined in any one ofclaims 22 to 24, wherein said program information reserved in saidprogram information database includes a basic information including thebroadcast date-and-time of the program, channel, and program nameinformation and a detailed information concerning the contents of theprogram, the amount of said detailed information being larger than thatof said basic information; and wherein, in said transmitting step, saidbasic information of the program retrieved in said retrieving step isvoluntarily transmitted to said radio communication terminal, and saiddetailed information of the program retrieved in said retrieving step issequentially transmitted to said radio communication terminal when aninstruction is provided from said radio communication terminal.
 26. Aprogram-recording-instruction-method of instructing a recordingoperation of a program from a radio communication terminal to aprogram-recording-apparatus for recording a program to be broadcast,comprising the steps of: a program-retrieving-step of retrieving aprogram which satisfies retrieving conditions preset by a user of saidradio communication terminal, from a database in which programinformation concerning a program to be broadcast is reserved; aprogram-information-transmitting-step, in which, when a programsatisfying said retrieving conditions is retrieved, a programinformation concerning the retrieved program is obtained from saiddatabase, so that the program information is voluntarily transmitted tosaid radio communication terminal; a program-information-displaying-stepof receiving the transmitted program information at said radio terminaland displaying the received program information, so as to prompt theuser to instruct the recording operation of the program; and arecording-instruction-transmitting-step, in which, when the recordingoperation of the program is instructed,recording-instruction-information is transmitted from said radiocommunication terminal to said program-recording-apparatus.
 27. A methodof instructing a program recording operation as defined in claim 26,wherein, in said program-information-transmitting-step, when thetransmission conditions which are set corresponding to the user of saidradio terminal are satisfied, the program information retrieved in saidretrieving step is transmitted.
 28. A method of instructing a programrecording operation defined in claim 26 or 27, wherein the programinformation reserved in said database includes a basic informationincluding the broadcast date-and-time of the program, channel, andprogram name information and a detailed information concerning thecontents of the program, the amount of said detailed information beinglarger than that of said basic information; and wherein, in saidprogram-information-transmitting-step, said basic information of theprogram retrieved in said program retrieving step is voluntarilytransmitted to said radio communication terminal, and said detailedinformation of the program retrieved in said retrieving step issequentially transmitted to said radio communication terminal when aninstruction is provided from said radio communication terminal.
 29. Aprogram-recording-instruction-method of instructing a purchasingoperation of a program from a radio communication terminal to aprogram-providing-apparatus, said program-providing-apparatus providinga registered user with a program instructed from the user to purchaseit, comprising the steps of: a program-retrieving-step of retrieving aprogram satisfying the retrieving conditions which are set correspondingto a user of said radio communication terminal from a database in whichprogram information concerning a program to be broadcast is reserved; aprogram-information-transmitting-step, in which, when a programsatisfying said retrieving conditions is retrieved, a programinformation concerning the retrieved program is obtained from saiddatabase, so that the program information is voluntarily transmitted tosaid radio communication terminal; a program-information-displaying-stepof receiving the transmitted program information at said radio terminaland displaying the received program information, so as to prompt theuser to instruct the purchasing operation of the program; and apurchasing-instruction-transmitting-step, in which, when the purchasingoperation of the program is instructed, thepurchasing-instruction-information is transmitted from said radiocommunication terminal to said program-providing-apparatus.
 30. A methodof instructing a program purchasing operation as defined in claim 29,wherein, in said program-information-transmitting-step, when thetransmission conditions which are set corresponding to the user of saidradio terminal are satisfied, the program information retrieved in saidretrieving step is transmitted.
 31. A method of instructing a programpurchasing operation as defined in claim 29 or 30, wherein the programinformation reserved in said database includes a basic informationincluding the broadcast date-and-time of the program channel, andprogram name information and a detailed information concerning thecontents of the program, the amount of said detailed information beinglarger than that of said basic information; and wherein, in saidprogram-information-transmitting-step, said basic information of theprogram retrieved in said retrieving step is voluntarily transmitted tosaid radio communication terminal, and said detailed information of theprogram retrieved in said program-retrieving-step is sequentiallytransmitted to said radio communication terminal when an instruction isprovided from said radio communication terminal.
 32. An apparatus forwirelessly transmitting program information concerning a program to bebroadcast, to a plurality of radio communication terminals, comprising:a first memory comprising program information concerning a program to bebroadcast; a second memory comprising retrieving conditions which areset corresponding to the plurality of radio communication terminals; aserver which is adapted to access the first memory and the secondmemory, the server retrieving a program satisfying the retrievingconditions stored in the second memory from the program informationstored in the first memory; and transmitter for transmitting the programinformation concerning said retrieved program to said radiocommunication terminals corresponding to said retrieving conditions.